Spirit of the Ring
by RavenSara84
Summary: The Spirit of the Ring doesn't seem to be as terrifying as he was before, if anything Ryou find that he is actually easier to deal with now. When he learns why that is, he will need to figure out how to get the Spirit to change his plans.
1. Spirit of the Ring

The Spirit of the Ring was scary, actually in Ryou's perspective the word would be _terrifying_ , if it wasn't for _one thing_ , one _little thing_ that made him feel a bit more at ease with the other that possessed his body.

The Spirit of the Ring knew _nothing_ about the world in this day and age.

'What is that _infestation_ going on in that building?' The Spirit had asked innocently enough, as Ryou was taking a sip of tea from his travel cup, causing him to choke on the liquid.

After calming himself, taking deep breaths and being sure to not let the Spirit be _aware_ of his thoughts, he glanced down at his bandaged hand wondering about the mental state of the Spirit, even though he was fully aware that the Spirit was _anything_ but innocent as he sounded right now.

'That's…' Ryou focused, he couldn't let the Spirit know that he thought him foolish for asking such a question: 'That's a school,'

The Spirit became visible, only to him thankfully, as he looked at the building with a frown; 'A what?'

'A school… A place of learning,' He clarified, then gulped when he saw a small - _blissfully small_ \- crowd of girls waiting at the school gates, and felt a cold shiver run up his spine as he knew, he _just knew_ they were waiting for _him_.

'Like the Priests in the Ancient past?' The Spirit asked him, before noticing his host's attention was no longer on his questions and instead those girls who were waiting for him. He saw the look in their eyes, the excitement and lust, and he grinned; 'Ah, let me deal with _them_ my little host. I know how to get rid of clingers,'

'I don't…' Ryou began to protested, but he should have known better, the Spirit would do what he liked when he liked, and the host had no real power to actually stop him, no matter how hard he tried, and he had _tried_.

The one thing he knew about the Spirit, and was probably the _only_ thing he knew about the spirit was this; he had very little knowledge of the world today, but he was the _master_ of acting, no one would have been aware that he had no idea how certain things worked, he watched other's and learnt through them.

The Spirit growled at the girls as he walked by, none of them noticed the suitable changes in Ryou's demeanour, how he stood with more conviction, the arrogance that practically oozed out of him, nor of the slight physical changes, his eyes were more narrower, distrusting, his hair a bit more unkempt, and the smirk that graced his lips. He made the way towards Ryou's first class, handing over control when he felt it was safe enough to do so.

'Er… thank you?' The teen felt unnerved, he had never expected such a thing from the Spirit, there was nothing to be gained from that venture.

The Spirit was once again by his side; 'It's nice to scare people little Ryou… although I feel like our talents are _wasted_ here,' He scowled as Ryou made his way to his desk and sat down.

He was confused, not understanding what that meant until he realised exactly _what_ the spirit had said; ' _Our_ talents?'

'Of course, you do enjoy those RP games do you not?'

The teen nodded, he did, or _had_ enjoyed them until the Spirit came along ans began to cause problems. Ryou had wanted friends, he had been so _lonely,_ so _isolated_ from his father in recent years that he wanted close friends, but when he was given the Ring… well the Spirit took that desire and _twisted_ it to his own ends, turning those _living_ , _breathing_ people into dolls and turning those Ryou _wished_ to have as real life friends into extra players for his games. But that wasn't what he really desired.

He also was unaware that his thoughts weren't fully blocked off; 'I admit I did go in there a bit… _heavy handed_ , but you should try being trapped in an item for _centuries_ and let's see how your sanity copes,' The Spirit sounded more… Ryou could only think _sane_ in comparison to how he had been before, although he wasn't sure why that would be, the Spirit didn't change between then and now as far as he was aware.

'A bit? Half of the people from my old schools are in _coma's_!' He exclaimed, feeling the pent-up frustration finally snap; 'Everyone was afraid of me, I had _no one_ , I _still have no one_ ,'

The Spirit scoffed, brushing off the outburst like it was nothing; 'Nonsense, little Yugi and his cohorts are around now,' It was meant to sooth him, but Ryou wasn't having it, the dam had been lifted, and he was going to let the Spirit know _exactly_ how he was feeling.

'Just because _you_ want me to get close to him! You want that damn Puzzle of his, you don't _care_ about anything else!' He snapped out, feeling himself become drained, and wishing he could now go home, he didn't have the energy to deal with school, with wearing a fake smile, pretending that he was okay when in reality he was falling apart. He was always falling apart.

The Spirit became silent, and Ryou managed to plod along the rest of the day, worrying prodding his mind with the lack of noise even though he could _tell_ the Spirit was still there, he didn't even try to forcefully take over when he was bored, or just to get Ryou into trouble. Instead the teen had a normal, if dull, morning at school.

'There is a plus side to you being around Yugi,' The Spirit finally spoke at lunch and Ryou bit back a sigh, though the Spirit took no notice of that; 'The pair of you can _understand_ what it's like to have an Ancient Spirit sharing a body and mind,'

It was a plus, but as far as Ryou was concerned Yugi lucked out, _his_ spirit was friendly and willing to help, while his own was selfish and violent, he feared for his own safety and that of everyone around him because of how unpredictable the Spirit was.

He felt it, he didn't need to be able to see Ryou's thoughts to know what he was thinking; 'Tch fine, I know I am keeping you to _myself_ , but there is a reason for that,' He paused for a moment, Ryou was unsure why, it was just the two of them inside his body; 'The dark god is tucked away for the moment. It seems they haven't been able to escape the Shadow Realm just yet,'

'Wait… dark god?' As if he didn't have enough to worry about, until those words actually sunk in and he realised what the Spirit had actually said; 'Do you mean…'

'That I am not the only Spirit in the Item? No, not exactly. I _am_ the soul of an Ancient Egyptian Thief, I am wanting… Not that it _matters_ to you, but the dark god also resides here.' The Spirit was evasive in regards to his wants but Ryou was certain that he knew what he was after any way, it wasn't a secret, but the dark god _was_.

'So Yami defeated _him_? Not you? But how can he come back from the Shadow Realm?' He was curious, as he slowly ate his sushi, thinking about everything that had happened, trying to piece together if he could work out the difference between the dark god the Spirit was talking about and the Spirit alone.

The Spirit shook their head; 'They are a god of darkness, the Shadow Realm won't be able to keep them locked up forever, they will remember that they are the master of the realm. However they still has to bow down to the rules they made for it,'

As Ryou considered the differences he realise the most obvious one, the _malice_ that was normally around the Spirit wasn't there any more, it would explain why the Spirit had been willing to aid him this morning and why he was silent up until _now._ If what the Spirit was saying was _true_ , then he should probably try and get on his good side, perhaps there was a way to butter him up, maybe have him turn a new leaf, because he wasn't liking the way things were going now in regards to his new friends. Even though it was a benefit to the Spirit, and most likely with this dark god; "Then... what is your name?'

The Spirit frowned at the question, no one had asked him that in so long, even when he was alive no one asked him for his name. Now here was a mortal, whose body he had sometimes possessed along with the dark god, although he had tried to reign the dark god, but he wasn't always successful;

'Akefia,'

The white haired teen didn't feel the same amount of fear for the Spirit as he had for that dark god, or perhaps it was actually a fusion of the two of them, but now Akefia was _talking_ to him, asking questions they seemed to be on fairly neutral ground. Now Ryou wondered if perhaps the Spirit could overcome the evil that lurked in the Ring and defeat it with his help, but he needed to learn more about this dark god, and he needed to _gain_ Akefia's trust fully.

'How did this dark god become part of the Ring?' He was curious about that, surely a god, even a dark god shouldn't have been easily locked up in an object, so how did that happen?

'I…' Akefia trailed off, sounding unsure and a bit weary; 'I'm not sure,' This perked Ryou a little bit, even though that was actually a bit worrying.

'You don't remember?' He was curious now, but once the question left his mouth he realised that the Spirit could easily take the question as an insult.

Instead Akefia cackled; 'It's been _centuries_ little Ryou, in the darkness and with _no one_ but the dark god for company, my memories were… _taken_ from me. I only know that I _need_ the Items back,' He was gruff as he spoke and then he sighed, his shoulders falling, almost like he was defeated by the task. They were silent for a while, Ryou putting his tupper-wear back into his bag when Akefia spoke once more; "You should head to your next class, there are two students coming this way, and I don't like how they are looking at you," He glared at the taller boy's, who walked with purpose towards them.

Ryou moved quickly, leaving the lunch area but that wasn't enough to deter the two who kept on following him.

'Why are they after me? Did I do something…' He sighed, he hadn't done _anything_ to incur their wraith, they were just classic bullies and with Ryou being weaker than them, it was all the excuse they needed.

He heard Akefia cackle; 'It has been a while since I had a been part of a _decent_ fight,' Without asking for permission Ryou found himself placed gently in his soul room, he landed neatly on his bed, as if Akefia had asked him and was doing this with his permission.

The teen could wait, he could try and gain the Spirits trust, and he supposed that he had a little bit given that Akefia had given him his name. Now they didn't have the dark god overwhelming them, overcoming Ryou and with Akefia probably playing along, he might have enough time to get Akefia to trust him.

Looking around his soul room he wondered if he would have time for a little nap before his next class only to find himself thrust into control once more and blinking in surprise to find himself already in class, waiting for the majority of the other students to arrive.

'I have dealt with those pathetic mortals,' He growled out, and Ryou felt a pain in his knuckles, his back ached and his forehead was throbbing, he wondered if he looked as bad as he felt, when he noticed a trickle of water trail down his forehead. Akefia scoffed; 'Your body needs a bit more work, thankfully it's useful in a fight, but not to the level that I am used to working with,'

Ryou checked to make sure it _was_ water that was trickling down his face, and a swipe over his forehead and his hair showed that it was; "Well am _sorry_ my body isn't up to _your_ standards," He froze, although he felt no reason to fear Akefia the same way as the dark god, that didn't mean it was a good idea to be sarcastic to him.

There was silence, then to Ryou's surprise the Spirit began to cackle; 'Not to worry, when you are done here, I will be taking control and getting this body into the condition that _I_ am used to,'

'But… But I need to do my homework,' He protested, but it was a lost battle, after all the spirit had been rather pleasent today, he protected Ryou _twice_ , it was fair.

'That can wait,' Akefia became silent as more students, including Yugi arrived to the class room, he withdrew and was now in Ryou's soul room, watching out for the Pharaoh.

'How about I make a time-table then?' Ryou nodded to Yugi as he passed by, though the shorter teen looked at him with worry, seeing the red forehead and the bruised knuckled.

'A what?' The Spirit was weary of those words.

"Are you all right Bakura?" Yugi asked him, interrupting them without realising it.

"Hmm?" Ryou looked down at his knuckles where Yugi's line of sight was and blushed; "Oh yes sorry just some…." Once more he felt himself being pushed back as Akefia took control, with the Ring hidden under his school uniform though Yugi and his own spirit didn't realise or notice the change; "Some bullies just tried to attack me during lunch,"

"What? Do you need to visit the nurse?" Yugi look a step closer, with Ryou feeling the revulsion that came down the soul link from Akefia.

He smiled at the teen; "Oh no, I've been practising self-defense," Akefia rubbed his knuckled and laughed slightly; "Although I think I might need a bit more practice. I don't think I jurt them too badly, but if am lucky they will leave me alone now,"

Those lavender eyes still looked concerned, and now Ryou felt Akefia surprise at that look the other teen was giving them; "Well if you are sure. But you know you can join us up on the roof for lunch, Joey and Tristian are pretty good at dealing with those kinds of bullies,"

Akefia smiled at him; "Thank you Yugi, but I should probably still learn to defend myself, they won't always be around," He assured him and the teen continued his way up the back with his other friends in the knowledge.

'Well, it looks like we have gotten a bit closer to _my_ goal, although surely Yugi must realise that his friends won't always be around to protect him?'

'Well… considering it was Joey who _used_ to bully Yugi…' Ryou informed him and Akefia perked up, shifting the pair of them around so that Ryou was in control once more.

'Oh? And what happened to change that?'

'I don't know, I just heard about it through the school rumours, I never had the heart to ask either of them about it,' Ryou admitted and then realised what he had said; 'And you _shouldn't_ either!'

Akefia nodded, it was something to think about and really he didn't think he would actually _need_ the information but it might come in handy, he just needed to get more of it if it was going to benefit him.

He was silent though and Ryou continued his school day, though the Spirit didn't udnerstand exactly _why_ people went to these places of learning, but he figured he could asked Ryou about that later.

Perhaps.

He really justed wanted this day to be over, because he had things to do, he _had_ to get this body stronger than it was right now, currently he was at a disadvantage, his skills were plentiful, but without the dark god to give him more strength when fighting he was weak. Those fools from earlier were easy enough to knock out, but if someone stronger came around… he didn't have much confidence that he would actually be able to defeat them.

With those thoughts floating around Ryou's head, Akefia letting him know _exactly_ what he thought needed to be done, he gave in at the end of the school day. There was no reason for him to fight the Spirit anyway, Akefia could take over at any point, however he did put a condition into it, he _had_ to have time to do his home work at some points, and he was determined to create a time table for this to work out well for both of them, even though Akefia felt school was a waste of time.

For the while that the dark god wasn't clouding their souls, they found a rhythm and they worked well together, despite the hatred that continued to radiate from Akefia in regard to the Pharaoh, and indeed Yugi, the pair had a smooth ride for a while.


	2. Spirit of the Ring 2

When Akefia came out of the Ring to talk face to face, it was a bit _odd_. Not due to the fact that he was a three centuries old spirit from Ancient Egypt, Ryou was _over that_ , besides he had once had a conversation in part with this spirit and a dark god - actually it was more like a stand-off but that was some time ago - no, the odd part was that Akefia looked very little like himself, when the dark god was still haunting around them it was like a darker version of Ryou himself, but now he saw that the Spirit looked _completely_ different. Akefia's dark skin wasn't a surprise since he was from _Egypt_ , with his _clothes_ giving it away that he was from a different _era_ , then there was Akefia's hair which _wasn't_ white, it was more a light grey, his _eyes_ were more lilac grey hue and then there was the scar's on his cheek, one that Ryou _wanted_ to ask about but also, he didn't really want to know to the story behind it, he already knew that there was a lot of history between his Spirit and Yugi's, and he was certain that the scar was probably linked to that.

'What do we need to _chat_ about?' The Spirit crossed his arms and appeared to lean against the wall, though Ryou was certain that if Akefia _was_ to lean against the wall he would simply go through it.

'About the dark god that is lingering around. You know they are going to come back soon,' Ryou was quiet as he spoke, the dark god scared him, mainly because of how powerful they were, and the fact that Akefia had been overwhelmed by it that he did whatever they commanded, that showed how much power they had, if Ryou learned anything about the thief in the time they had created a bond between themselves. He had no real reason to feel uneasy, it was only him and the Spirit in the apartment, but he was certain that _someone_ could be listening in on them.

'I don't give a damn,' Akefia stated gruffly and looked out of the window to see the city of Domino, but he didn't disappear though Ryou didn't take that part into consideration at the time.

The teen felt the anger inside himself rise once more; 'You give _so many damns_ they are _visible_ from _space_!'

The thief turned to look at the teen lilac eyes wide with surprise, Ryou's body was trembling with a mixture of fear and anger, Akefia knew what that felt like, but he couldn't remember the reason _why._

'What do you mean?' He took a step towards him, moving carefully like one would with a stray animal, you never knew if they would run away in fear even if you were only wishing to help it.

'This dark god… it's because of _you_ ," Ryou glared at him, but the tremors never stopped; "I have seen those _nightmares_ … those _memories_ …" He trailed off and the progress that Akefia had made _towards him_ was now retreated back towards the wall.

'What? What nonsense are you talking about?' He growled, not liking the words that Ryou had flung at him, the dark god was _helping him_ , to get revenge on the Pharaoh for his _family_ , his _village_.

'I saw through those memories your reasoning to _hate_ the Spirit of the Puzzle, I know what happened to your village… your…. your _family_ …' He trailed off, the anger left when he felt the sharpness from Akefia in regards to the subject that they were on.

The progress they had made over the past few months seemed to be falling around him, and he knew it was his fault for not approaching the situation in a more tactful manner, but damn it this was affecting him too. He couldn't sleep a full night any more because of the nightmares and his grades were getting worse, he fell asleep in class and although Akefia did protect him from the bullies he could do nothing about the rest of his school life.

'It was a _massacre_ ,' Akefia hissed, ignoring the way his eyes were now starting to sting, the overwhelming sadness, the realisation that he was alone, with no one to comfort him, to remember that night, the horror of what he saw, smelt and _heard_. He pushed it away, focusing on one thing, the _one thing_ that kept him going through these centuries, even with the dark god tormenting him, anger and hate; '99 people were _slaughtered_ for these Items,' He gestured to the Ring; 'But there were _more people_ who lived there, far more than _that_ and the Pharaoh's men _slaughtered them all_ ,'

Ryou noticed that Akefia was now trembling, his hands clenching then relaxing and the motion repeated itself again; 'But the dark god was also made from all of that too weren't they?' He's tone was softer now, certain that this wasn't simply anger coming from the Thief, and he also couldn't blame Akefia for the anger he felt about this fate that had happened, but he had _seen_ the Spirit angry at someone and this was not it.

' _Of course they were!_ ' He cried out in despair; 'All the _fear, anger, bloodshed_ and not to mention what else went on…' The Spirit felt himself begin to lose control of his emotions, the stinging in his eyes was becoming more intense, but he had to push it to the side, he couldn't lose focus, not _now_.

'But Akefia what the dark god is wanting…' The teen stopped as the Ancient Egyptian glared at him and to his surprise he saw unchecked tears running down the Spirits cheeks, yet he couldn't say a thing, because he _knew_ Akefia, and if he pointed it out then this conversation would be over, the Spirit wouldn't talk about it again and he couldn't have that, they _had_ to talk about this _now_.

'I _know_ what they are wanting, and if it means that the Pharaoh will fall, and finally _pay_ for what happened to my _people_ , then I am more than willing to be part of it!' He snarled and Ryou felt the trickle of fear come over him, wondering if Akefia would actually harm him. After all they had gone through in the past few month's, Akefia taking over to _protect_ him from the school bullies, to making an agreement to have control over Ryou's body to work out and make it stronger than before, to actually being able to have a conversation of some kind, now he was realising that perhaps this Spirit was just as bad as the dark god, that this Spirit would willingly sacrifice him all for the sake of avenging his people.

'That would mean that everything would be gone, even you,' The teen tried to find the strength to keep arguing, but the waves of emotions that flowed through to him through the link he and Akefia shared made it _hard_. He felt the sadness, the fear and the helplessness that Akefia felt, although he needed to keep going, he _couldn't_ give up, not yet, he might be able to get him to see the truth.

'You know so little of what went on back then Ryou. If _everything_ is gone to destroy the Pharaoh and all that he cares about, it would have been worth it,' He informed him stubbornly, still not realising that his tears were falling down his cheeks, that his eyes were no longer stinging was because of it being released.

'I know, but you aren't alone in losing those that you care about,' He pleaded to him, but the circumstances were different, in the nightmares he saw… Akefia really did see it _all_. What could he say to calm him down? He wasn't completely sure he could disagree with wanting the Pharaoh dead, he would be on the same boat, but he also knew that Akefia was after the _wrong_ Pharaoh, the one he wanted to get revenge on wasn't the one who was now in the Puzzle.

'Perhaps not, but _you_ never had to see them die, never had the cries that would _haunt_ your sleep,' Now Akefia slid to the floor, curled up and rested his head on his knees. Finally he was aware that he was indeed crying, wiping his eyes roughly and unable to _believe_ that he had been openly crying before this _boy_ , yet a thought occurred to him; Ryou never mentioned his moment of weakness at all during their exchange.

'I… I know I will never understand what you went through… but those nightmares are haunting _my_ sleep too. I just… I don't understand what you gain from having the whole _world_ destroyed. There are far more innocents in the world Akefia,' He paused because he felt like weeping, although the emotions had calmed down, they still vibrated around his being, he remembered what it was like when his sister and mother past away, he couldn't imagine how he would have felt to _see_ it. Not only that, but everyone else that he had been around, people he would have cared about in some form.

'The murder of my family created those items… and the soldiers continued to destroy the village even after the sacrifice…' He trailed off, returning to rest his head on his knees. He hadn't spoken of his past, of his _family_ in so long. The only one he had spoken of it was to the dark god, and that was done in torment while being stuck in the Ring, until he began to lose his memories due to that torment.

'I want to help,' Ryou wiped his own eyes and moved to sit tentatively next to him with enough space so as not to overwhelm the Thief; 'But I _can't_ help if it means the destruction of those I _care about_ ,'

Akefia listened, he could understand the reasoning, he could even _respect_ that, but his whole reason for living… for _staying_ as he was, was to destroy _everything_. But Ryou had a point didn't he?

'Damn it,' He leaned back, shaking the hair out of his tear stained face; 'That damn… I never wanted this world destroyed,' He whispered as he gazed at the ceiling.

Ryou relaxed a little bit, pleased that Akefia was coming to his senses; 'Was that the dark god?' He guessed and saw Akefia nod; 'Can we stop them?'

He sighed; 'They are part of the darkness, the only way for us to destroy them would be to _remove_ the darkness,' He looked over at the teen, his eyes dry, serious if a bit red; 'We have to continue to play our part, at least for a while,' He grinned at him; 'Because am certain the damn Pharaoh can defeat him,'

Ryou cocked his head to the side as he heard the bitterness in those final words; 'Why do you think that?'

Akefia laughed bitterly; 'Because he's the _light_ , the chosen one by _Ra_ , while I… I am forever in the shadows…'

The teen stared at him, his eyes wide, this was the first time that he had a conversation with the Spirit of the Ring that his words about the Pharaoh wasn't full of bitterness, envy or sheer hatred. Instead there was just acceptance in his role, in the final game against the darkness that had taken so long to come to it's grand conclusion.

The pair shared this quiet moment, this moment of silent agreement, where they would both need to resign themselves to not only work silently against the dark god, but to also actively lose against the Pharaoh without _anyone_ being aware.


	3. Revival

Brown eyes were open wide, as was his mouth, his facial expression showed his utter disbelief on what was in front of him.

Right here, for some strange reason that he was unable to fathom - although his brain wasn't completely working given the circumstances he was under - the Ancient Spirit who had taken over his body due to the Millennium Ring that housed his soul; along with a Dark God; was standing in front of him, in his _own body_. This was a man who _should_ be _dead_. He last heard of him - well the Dark God - taking over his body to go back to Egypt, though Malik Ishtar had to given him the details as to _why_ he was there. He barely remembered anything, aside from the Dark God forcing himself back into control, which was painful, and difficult considering that he was no longer wearing the Millennium Ring.

" _What_?" The man snapped at him, his patience having reached it's peak with Ryou's starring and not understanding _why_ he was doing it. Surely he would have learnt by now that he could return from impossible circumstances?

He tried to speak, but nothing came out and the man before him sighed and rolled his grey eyes; "It's just… You _died_!"

The former Thief King laughed; "Yes well, it didn't _stick_ did it?" Akefia told him, simply shrugging at the word 'died', as if it held no meaning to him any more, though he now smirked at the younger man.

Ryou knew that Akefia could get out of situations like that, he was certain that his life in Ancient Egypt would have resulted in him getting into scraps like that, but it didn't make any sense…;

"But… How are you _here_?" He couldn't get his head around that. The Pharaoh was _gone_ , he was free from the Puzzle and was able to leave to enter the afterlife with his own family, so how could Akefia be here now? The only reason for him to remain was to defeat the Pharaoh, he failed, but that was their plan, however Ryou didn't know why he too didn't go into the afterlife to be with _his_ family.

The smirk never left his face though an eyebrow was raised; "How do you think a thief gets anywhere that they aren't supposed to be?"

Ryou rubbed his temples, hoping that a headache wasn't coming on, before looking at him again; "No I mean… If you're back, when you have no reason to be _here_ , then is the Pharaoh also back?" He hadn't wanted to say those words, but given that if always felt like Akefia and the Pharaoh were connected it would make sense for he to return as well. But would that mean that Akefia would still be after revenge? He wasn't sure if he had the strength to work with him again for that. It had been a challenge to do so when the Dark God also kept returning, how would he cope with just the spirit? Even worse was the spirit had his own body now, there would be no _stopping him_.

"Calm down, it's only me who has returned. I too saw the _Pharaoh_ return with those _damn Priests_ ," He growled low, hating the simple fact that there appeared to be no justice even in the afterlife. His family had been killed and he saw no sign of turmoil going on.

Ryou relaxed for a moment before he remembered one other thing; "They know what you look like!"

The Egyptian just looked at him, unsure as to who _they_ were; "Who?" He also had the feeling that Ryou might be overreacting, due his appearance in the living and having his _own_ body.

"The _others_ , Yugi and…" He felt like passing out, he could take a lot, as the past while of dealing with the Spirit of the Ring proved, but this took the cake as far as he was concerned.

Now he nodded; "Ah yes, _them_. Not to worry I am not planning on staying here for too long," He assured him, though Ryou didn't feel totally reassured by that.

Though the last few words took him by surprise; "You're not?" He wasn't sure why, even after all the trouble Akefia had made for him, along with the added bonus of the Dark God, he _shouldn't_ be disappointed in him actually leaving, it meant that he would be able to hang out with Yugi and the other's more often… Yet he knew that Akefia on his own _wasn't_ a bad person, and in a strange way he had become a friend, whenever the Dark God was sent to the Shadow Realm, he came out and started to become like a companion or protector over that period of time.

"Of course not, I am _finally free_ of that damned ring, do you think I wish to remain _here_?" He glared sharply at the teen who should be afraid of him, like he had been before… but that was when the Dark God was in control, now Ryou didn't feel fear, he was weary but Akefia had never hurt him, at least not on purpose.

"But where will you go?" Now he was curious, Akefia had learned a lot about the world over the time the pair had worked together, but he still didn't know all of it and without any Shadow Magic, could he actually survive on his own? Ryou was certain that he could land on his feet, but he would be on his own without anyone to help him.

"I'll figure something out, huh perhaps America," He said, but it didn't sound like a definite idea.

"Why there?"

"A new beginning Ryou, and no one knows me there," He stated and Ryou had to admit that it was a good reason, but he wasn't sure why Akefia didn't want to go somewhere like Europe or Australia.

"But…" He wasn't sure if he could speak to Akefia about this, but he didn't _want_ the other to leave, not yet. Though he was fully aware that it was selfish of him, he still wanted him to stay, for a while at least; "Could you just stay a little bit longer, please?"

Grey eyes looked over to him, assessing him carefully, trying to gauge if there was either a trick or a trap involved to having him stay here for a bit longer than he wanted to; "Why? After all the trouble that I have caused you? Surely you would rather have me _out_ of your life,"

That was true, and Ryou couldn't argue that face, but he still shook his head; "No, with my father not being around any more you were the one constant thing I had that was… well always there for me,"

"And Zorc," Akefia added drily which had Ryou _flinch_.

The Dark God, or Zorc as Akefia was casually calling him now, was the constant horror of his life, the things that Ryou had been forced to do and even though Akefia had tried to help him, they couldn't make it seem obvious that the pair of them were actively working _against_ the Dark God. It was the reason why Akefia always called the creature the Dark God instead of his name.

"No, I mean when… _Zorc_ … wasn't around. When the Pharaoh sent him to the Shadow Realm, you were good company to have, you were… _are_ my oldest friend," He managed to bite back on a laugh though Akefia chuckled anyway.

Though he was startled to hear someone say that, particularly someone who had gone through some much like Ryou had, having gone through all that and _still_ considered him a friend… _him_ Akefia the Thief King, the one who almost destroyed the world, _twice,_ was regarded as a friend to this teen.

He was regarded as a _friend._

How long had it been since he himself had a friend, an actual friend, not one that he would use because he had a chance to gain something from it. Did he even consider Ryou the same way? It was an easy answer, _yes_. Between Ryou and Zorc, he would pick Ryou no matter what, even those he lost in his past, Ryou was special and he knew that to have the boy as his friend would mean that he would _always_ have an anchor of some sort, no matter where he was.

Not that he would admit it in such a dramatic fashion; "I suppose I would also have to agree with that sentiment," He remembered the other Egyptian from Battle City, Malik Ishtar, they had come up with an agreement of sorts, but that wasn't _just him_ though, Zorc heavily influencing him, though he did find that the teen had reminded him a little bit of his past self, what with his determination to kill the Pharaoh for all the pain that he had caused him, even though the pain that had been inflicted on him caused him to create another version of himself.

That other half had been responsible for getting rid of all three of them during that battle, though the good thing was that Zorc didn't return right away after the Pharaoh defeated the evil Malik. Instead Zorc had to try and _slip_ through the shadows, which had resulted in Akefia being alone, _completely alone_ for the first time in a while. It was during this that his past memories had returned when he and Ryou shared a body for a period of time, but he didn't tend to focus on it too much, until Ryou had him talk about… _everything_.

"Malik knows about your past too," Ryou commented quietly and for a moment Akefia forgot that he had his _own body_ , thinking once again that he was a spirit that that his wall wasn't fortified like it should have been; "Not much…"

"It was hard enough to keep _you_ out when we were working in the same body, and Zorc was desperate, it didn't matter how hard I tried to block him, Zorc always managed to pull them down at least a bit,"

The teen wanted to say more, about how Malik had regarded him as a friend, but once he had learnt that he had been working along side Zorc and Akefia, his regard to the boy had shifted. He was still friendly and happy enough to talk to Ryou, but like so many people who had been affect by the Ring, he kept his distance. He _couldn't_ say that to Akefia, it was would be wrong and it wouldn't keep him here in Domino for longer, chances are it would make him leave _faster_.

Akefia glanced over at him; "He's in Egypt now isn't he? So not our concern," He dismissed the other teen, and while part of Ryou was relieved, another part was also disappointed. Malik could become a good friend to both of them if he was told of the situation, in fact Ryou felt that he could benefit with them too, and together they would be able to balance each other out. Although maybe that was due to him being so lonely.

The Egyptian frowned, looking around the apartment and finally his gaze came upon the window that looked over part of Domino; "I suppose… I could stay until you," He paused and looked over at Ryou, who couldn't contain his happiness of this revelation; "What was the word you kept focusing on before? Graduate?"

"Yes," He nodded; "and it won't be too long now, just a few months," Ryou felt so relieved that Akefia would be staying, even if it was a limited amount of time, but perhaps he would be able to get the man to stick around, for _them_ to be a family. They both lost so much at such a young age, surely they could be friends after both of them being possessed by Zorc.

"What is a few months?" Akefia murmured to himself before looking around the room once again; "Where is the food? I'm hungry,"

Ryou smiled, after this conversation and after everything he had mentally had to get through, he was more than happy to make some lunch for both of them, and he was also glad that Akefia would be staying for a little bit longer.

He didn't know it, now that he no longer shared his body with Akefia, but the other man realised that this was a good idea as well, he needed to figure out a plan. He needed _contacts_ , as a thief in the old world he could work essentially alone, but in the modern world? He needed people.

For now he would remain here and have Ryou as company, while working in the underworld, where he actually belonged, to gain new contacts and hopefully move somewhere that he could forget about his past, about being a slave to Zorc, being trapped in the Ring, of never having true freedom until now.

He would plan, he would connect with other's and he would be content with the life he now had, with Ryou being someone he _knew_ he could rely on.

The future was unknown to both of them, but for now they could at least enjoy the rather strange friendship they managed to create when they were both under the thumb of Zorc. Now they were free to do what they wished without the risk of the world coming to an end.

Now they were actually free to live their lives as they wished.


End file.
